


And happiness is always louder

by middlemarch



Category: A Discovery of Witches (TV), All Souls Trilogy - Deborah Harkness
Genre: Conversations, F/M, Marriage, Marthe has been around for a loooong time, Relationship Advice, Romance, Sexual Humor, Vampires, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-07 04:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20303137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/middlemarch/pseuds/middlemarch
Summary: What Marthe said made far more sense, so much so that Diana wondered at Matthew's blindness.





	And happiness is always louder

“Matthew doesn’t know everything,” Marthe said. Her tone was relaxed, she kept kneading the dough in front of her as she must have done for a hundred thousand mornings. Maybe more. Diana was not sure how old she was, except that she was older than Matthew, than Ysabeau even.

“What do you mean, _tante_?” Diana used the affectionate title Marthe had suggested but evidently not expected to hear from a witch, judging by her wide smile. 

“About mating, what is required,” Martha replied, slapping at the dough. The kitchen was the only part of Sept-Tours that reminded Diana of home. There were kettles and a broad wooden table, a bowl of apples and bunches of herbs hanging from a rafter. The stone walls were deep, the windows cut in, but the light fell through in the same way. 

“Will you tell me then?”

“You would like to know more than he does?” Marthe asked.

“I’d like to know what you think is important,” Diana said carefully. Marthe would scent the truth, whether she tried to conceal it or not. What did the truth smell like? Jasmine or chalk or iodine? The wine they all drank or the burning wick of a candle?

“He thinks your mating, your marriage, is unconsummated,” Marthe said.

“What?”

“Ysabeau said Philippe should instruct him and I didn’t argue that much. It was busier then, there were so many creatures to tend,” Marthe said, plaiting the dough into a fat loaf and setting it on a sheet of metal. She drank from the mug next to her and Diana wondered briefly whether it was tea or something stronger.

“I’m afraid I still don’t understand entirely, _tante_.”

“It is your mutual joy that binds you, how you trust each other to show your face in your communion. How you trust each other to give joy, _ma petite_,” Marthe said. Diana sensed the vampire was speaking more delicately than her own inclination, to protect Diana’s sensibilities.

“You are saying the location, the situation that leads to orgasm is irrelevant? The possibility of conception is…unimportant?”

“Yes. It isn’t only one equation, which you’d think a biochemist would suspect,” Marthe said, rolling her eyes. 

“I see,” Diana said. “It seems vampires are not so different from any other male animal, creature or otherwise. As lovely as I find Matthew, in general and very specifically, it seems an overestimate of an organ’s significance. A rather restrictive view of what belongs where.”

“You do see, Madame de Clairmont,” Marthe laughed. “Will you tell him?”

“Why would I do that? Knowledge is power and Matthew has undeniable skills I should hate for him to stop practicing. He’s quite good with his hands, you see,” Diana said.

“And with his mouth, _non_? My ears have been ringing these past nights. And at dawn.”

“Marthe!”

“He’s never been so happy, not in all the time I’ve ever known him. You don’t need my blessing, Diana, but you have it,” Marthe said. “And Ysabeau’s, though she won’t say it aloud. It’s good to see our Matthew has such a good wife, one so giving.”

“Even if I am a witch?”

“You are Diana, a scholar and an American, an orphan and a writer. You are a witch but that isn’t all you are. The young ones, like Matthew, they don’t always understand.”

“Thank you for telling me the truth, _tante_,” Diana said.

“You’re welcome. And don’t worry about the noise. Most couples wouldn’t spend their honeymoon with their _belle-mére_ and their lover’s _nounou_. We understand.”

**Author's Note:**

> After a brief spin around the Interwebs, I was relieved to find out I am not the only person annoyed by the idea that the only way to consummate Diana and Matthew's marriage/mating is through traditional heterosexual intercourse. Once again, I have decided to fix this and the easiest way is just to make Matthew clueless. He's Mr. 1500 Years Older Than You Makes Me Nearly Omnipotent most of the time, so it was a nice change of pace.
> 
> This time, the title is from Deborah Harkness herself :)


End file.
